Drying machine



Nov. 19, 1963 c. H. SCHLECHT 3,111,251

DRYING MACHINE Filed June 15, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. CHARLES H. SCHLECHT ATTORNEY Nov. 19, 1963 c, H. SCHLECHT DRYING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 15, 1960 FIG.4

FiG. 6A

INVENTOR.

CHARLES H. SCHLECHT WW6 ATTORNEY Nov. 19, 1963 c. H. SCHLECHT DRYING MACHINE INVENTOR.

CHARLES H.3CHLECHT BY ATTORNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 1 1960 3,111,251 DRYING MAC Charles H. Schlecht, Cheltenham, Pa., assignor to The National Drying hlachinery (10., Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed lune 15, 1959, Ser. No. 36,393 3 Claims. (=Cl. 226-105) This invention relates to a drying machine of the type disclosed in Hurxthal Patent No. 2,196,921 and in Kyle et al. Patent No. 2,620,183.

One object of this invention is to produce an improved machine of the type set forth.

The Hurxthal patent discloses a drying machine comprising a conveyor, poles carried by the conveyor and on which the material to be dried, or otherwise, treated, is festooned in the form of loops and, in order to prevent marking of the goods, which will result if the same portion of the loop remained in contact with the supporting pole throughout the drying, or other, operation, the Hurxthal patent provides means for rotating the poles about their respective axes so as to bring difierent portions of the loop into engagement with the supporting pole.

The Kyle et al. patent discloses a drying machine and, in order to avoid all contact with the material, other than the contact of the material with the supporting pole portion or" the pole on which the bight of the loop rests, the pole is perforated and suction is applied to the interior of each pole to hold material on the pole during the formation of each loop. This means that, as each pole arrives at the point at which the loop is formed, the suction opening in the pole must be in registration with the suction device. In machines in which the poles are not free to rotate about their respective axes there is no problem. But in such machines the problem of marking of the material remains. In machines in which the poles are rotated about their axes, the material will be free of marking but the advantage of holding the material on the pole by suction is lost because rotation of the poles about their respective axes, makes it impossible for each pole to arrive at the suction station with its suction opening in registration with the suction device. In other words, it has not heretofore been possible to combine the advantage derived from the rotation of the poles about their axes, with the advantage derived from holding the material on the pole by suction.

It is, therefore, a further object of this invention to produce a machine or" the type set forth which embodies the advantage inherent in rotating the poles, as in Hurxthal, with the advanta e inherent in holding the material by suction, as in Kyle et al.

Broadly stated, this invention provides means for rotating the poles about their axes after the loops have been fully formed, and means for moving each pole from whatever haphazard position it may be as it approaches the station at which the suction is to be applied to a position in which, when the pole reaches the suction station, the suction opening in the pole will be in registration with the suction exerting device.

More specifically, the present invention provides a number of cams arranged in advance of the suction station and a number or" pins of varying lengths at the end or" each pole, whereby as each pole approaches the suction station, the engagement of said pins with said cams will rotate the pole from any position whatever it may have been in, to a position in which the suction opening of the pole will be in registration with the suction exerting device.

While, by way of example, the invention is described as applied to a drying machine, it is pointed out that the invention is applicable to any type of machine in which 3,l l l,Zl Patented Nov. 19, 1953 2 the material supporting poles are freely rotatable about their axes, as they progress through the machine and in which it is necessary that, when each pole reaches a predetermined point, it be in a predetermined position, regardless of the particular operation to be performed at said point, be it suction, or any other treatment. Therefore, the use of drying and suction in the specification and claims is by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic, side elevational View of a drying machine embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 2.2 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 33 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 44 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlargement of the right-hand portion of FIG. 1 better to show details of construction.

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view looking in the direction of line 6-6 on FIG. 5.

FIG. 6-A is an enlarged end elevation of one of the poles, showing details of construction.

F188. 7 to 10 inclusive are enlarged, highly diagrammatic views, showing the manner in which a pole approaching the feed end of the machine, in any haphazard position, is rotated to a position in which the suction opening in the pole will be in registration with the suction exerting device.

In the drawings 10 designates a drying chamber to which heated air, or other drying, or treating, medium is admitted by conventional means, not shown, to dry, or otherwise to treat the material 12, such as cloth or other web.

The material to be dried, or otherwise treated, is delivered to the receiving end of the drying chamber and is withdrawn from the delivery end of the drying chamber, by conventional material-feeding and material-withdrawing mechanisms, such as those shown in the patents issued to B. A. Parkes and R. C. Parkes, and in other patents. Since the material-feeding and material-withdrawing mechanisms form no part of the present invention, they are neither shown nor described. Instead, the material-feeding mechanism is represented by roll 14 and the material-withdrawing mechanism is represented by roll 16.

The material to be dried or otherwise treated is draped in the form of loops L-l, L2, L-3, etc., which are susended from poles 18, the proximal ends of which, as viewed in FIG. 1, are provided with end plugs 19 which carry shafts 26?, which are freely rotatable on pins 22, which are secured to endless sprocket chains 24, which travel over sprocket wheels 25, 26, 27, and 28, one of which is driven by a prime mover not shown. FIGS. 1 and 4. To the distal ends of the poles also as viewed in FIG. 1, are secured wheels 29 which ride on horizontal track 36 which is secured at 32 to the opposite frames 34 of the machine.

To prevent marking of the goods, the poles are rotated about their individual axes as they progress through the chamber. This may be done according to the teaching of the Hurxthal patent, above-mentioned, but, in order to make reference to said patent unnecessary, I have diagrammatically shown a mechanism for so rotating the poles.

As will be seen from FIGS. 1 and 4, the mechanism for rotating the poles about their respective axes includes sprockets 38 which are secured to, and are rotatable with, poles iii, and a sprocket chain 46, traveling endlessly over 3 sprockets 42 and engaging sprockets 38 to rotate the poles as they travel through the area spanned by sprocket chain 49. One of sprockets 42 is propelled by a reversible, variable speed motor M so that the direction, as well as the rate of rotation, of the poles may be controlled at will.

It will be seen from PEG. 1 that a complete loop 1-2 is formed on each pole as it moves from position A through position B, and that, because the weight of the wall W-Zl of a partly formed loop L-Il is less than the weight of the adjacent wall WZ of the adjacent, completely formed loop L-Z, it is necessary to provide means for preventing wall W-Z of loop L2 from pulling over the material forming wall W-l of loop 11-1. When the material is one which will not be damaged by mechanical contact, loop L-Z is prevented from slipping by a suitable mechanism such such as that shown in Parkes Patent No. 2,788,968, of April 16, 1957, in which roller (53) clamps the bight of completed loop L2 pending completion of the succeeding loop L-l. But, when the material is so delicate, or when its upper surface carries an uncured design so that mechanical clamping of the material will damage it, or will mar the design, it is necessary to provide other means for preventing wall W-2 of completed loop L2 from pulling over the adjacent side W-l of formative loop L1. This can be done according to the teaching of the Kyle patent above mentioned, but, in order to make reference to the Kyle patent unnecessary, it is pointed out that poles 18 are hollow; that they are provided with perforated areas 44 and with suction openings 46 which are adapted to be successively engaged by a suction nozzle 48 which is connected to a source of suction, not shown. Suction nozzle 48 is mounted for reciprocal movement between positions A and E so as to apply suction to the interior of a pole carrying a completed loop, such as loop L-Z to prevent full length wall W-Z thereof from pulling over the material of wall W-l of loop L-l which is being formed on the succeeding pole. By the time the pole has reached position E, wall W-l of loop L-l will be as long as W-Z or loop L2, and, with walls W-l and W-2 in balance, suction nozzle 48 is disengaged from the suction opening of the pole at position E, and is moved back, or to the right in FIG. 1, to engage the suction opening of a pole at, or approaching, position A. For details of the manner in which suction nozzle 48 is reciprocated, reference may be had to the Kyle patent.

Because the poles are rotated by sprocket chain 4%), the chance that a pole will approach position A with suction opening 46 thereof in position to be engaged by suction nozzle 48 is, for practical purposes, nil.

In order to overcome this difficulty, I have devised a mechanism for rotating each pole, from whatever haphazard position to which the pole may have been rotated by sprocket chain 40, to a position in which the suction opening of each pole reaching position A will be in a position to be accurately engaged by suction opening 48.

As will be seen from FIGS. 4 to 9, the mechanism referred to include a number of fixed cams C-1, (3-2, (3-3 and C-4, which are adapted to be selectively engaged by progressively longer pins which are carried at one end of each pole 13, to rotate the pole to the extent predetermined by the position in which the pole happens to approach said cams. As will be seen from FIGS. 5 and 6, the cams are vertically stepped and the pins are of progressively increasing lengths so that pin P-l can only engage cam C-l; pin P2 can only engage cam C-2; pin P-3 can only engage cam C3 and pin P-4 can only engage cam C4. By this arrangement, if the angular displacement of the pole so dictates, all of the pins will successively engage all of the cams before the pole reaches a position in which suction opening 4d will be in a position to be engaged by suction nozzle 48. If the pole approaches the feed end of the machine with suction opening 46 in position to be engaged by suction nozzle 48, none of the pins will be engaged with any of the cams. In other words, the disposition of the pins is so angularly related to the location of suction opening 46, that by the time the pole has moved past the uppermost cam 0-1, or to the uppermost position in FIG. 5, with, or without, any engagement of all, or of any of the pins with their corresponding cams, the suction opening of each pole will be in a position to be engaged by the suction nozzle 48, or in the position indicated by arrow in FIG. 1.

In order to prevent further rotation of a pole after it has been properly positioned by the pins and cams, that is, in order to hold successive poles in the uppermost position of FIG. 5, I provide fixed vertical guide 56, fixed horizontal guide 58 and intermediate circular guide 66 which rotates with sprocket wheel 25. As will be seen from PEG. 5, these guides are engaged by pins P-1 and P-4, which flank opening 46 and which prevent rotation of the pole about its axis while the pole is approaching and, passing through, positions A and E. When the pins clear the left hand end of guide 58, the pole will again be free to rotate about its axis according to the rate and direction of rotation of sprocket chain 40.

The poles used in a drying machine are not precision made and they have substantial momentum while in motion. Therefore, if the pipe 2% of any pole should jam, or bind, on its shaft 22, or if for any other reason, a pole should approach cam C4 in a non-freely rotatable condition, the momentum of the pole and the pull exerted on it by sprocket chain 24, will shear the pins, or will otherwise damage the machine.

In order to insure that each pole is freely rotatable when it reaches the lowest cam, I provided member 62, which is hinged at 64 and is biased outwardly or to the right in FIG. 5 by spring 60. Member 62 is provided with grooves 68 which are adapted to be engaged with the pins and it will be seen from FIG. 6 that member 62 projects to the right of the vertical plane of cams 0-1 to C-4 as to be engageable with any of pins P-l to P-4 and with pin P-S which is too short to engage any of the cams.

Engagement of any of the pins with any of grooves 68 exerts a retarding action on the linear motion of the pole and this exerts a turning movement on the pole. It will be noted that the lowest of grooves 68, being furthest removed from hinge 64, oifers the least resistance at the point of maximum impact and that, if the action of the lowest groove is not enough to free, or loosen the pole, the increasing resistance offered by the successively higher grooves, will, for all practical purposes, suffice to loosen the pole for free rotation.

Similarly, as the pins on a pole clear successive cams, they tend to enter the spaces between the cams and, to prevent damage due to the incidental impact, I provide spacers 70 which are biased outwardly by pins 72 which cushion the impact and serve to bounce the pins outwardly to enable the pin to climb over the radiused edge 74 of each cam. Since the purpose of the cam is to rotate the poles, their effective edges are so radiused as to present maximum retarding action consistent with permitting the pin to ride over the particular edge of each cam.

The operation is as follows:

After a pole has traversed the drying chamber and after the material has been withdrawn, the pole moves downwardly and traverses the lower portion of the chamher in the usual manner. As a pole approaches the feed end of the drying chamber, its pins will first move past hinged member 62. If the pole is in freely rotatable condition, member 62 will serve no purpose. But if the pole is jammed, the engagement of one of the pins with the lowest of grooves 68 will exert a retarding action which causes the pole to rotate. If the pole remains jammed, or Ire-jams, the engagement of the same, or of another pin with a higher groove 68 which is nearer hinge 64, will exert more force, and so on, until the pins clear hinged member 62. Experience shows that the poles very rarely become jammed, and that except where there is a break, or something else is radically wrong, the

engagement of hinged member 62 with a pin on a jammed pole invariably elfectively frees the pole for rotation in counter-clockwise direction as viewed in FIGS. 8 to 10'. The pins are approximately 702 apart, and except in the practically impossible situations in which the pole approaches the cams in the proper position in which none of the pins engages any of the cams, one or more of the pins will always engage the respective cam and will rotate the pole from whatever position it may have been in when it passed member 68 to a position in which pin P-1 will be in position to engage cam C-l to give the pole the final turn necessary to place the pole in the uppermost position of FIG. 5.

Since the engagement of this or that pin with its cam depends wholly on the position in which the pole approaches the cam, it is impossible to predict what the position will be, and it is though unnecessary to illustrate each conceivable position or condition. Instead FIGS. 7 to 9 show diagrammatically some of the conditions that can be encountered, and FIG. 10 shows how, no matter which other pin did or did not engage its respective cam, pin P-l will engage cam C-1 to turn the pole to the position of FIGS. 5 and 10 from which the pole moves to position A in FIG. 1 in which suction opening 46 will face upwardly, or as indicated by arrow 5%.

It will be seen from the foregoing that by providing the cams and the pins described, and by arranging as set forth, the poles can be rotated above their axes to prevent marking of the material, and they can be subjected to suction to hold the material on the pole without any physical contact with the material.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a drying machine of the type which includes a drying chamber having a feed end and a delivery end, an endless conveyor in said drying chamber, poles rotatable about their respective axes and carried by said conveyor, means propelling said conveyor endlessly in one direction to move said poles through said drying chamber, and a first means for rotating said poles about their respective axes as they travel through at least a portion of said drying chamber angularly to displace each of said poles from the position in which said pole entered the drying chamber, of a second means for rotating each of said poles about its axis in a direction and to an extent to nullify the angular displacement imparted to said .pole by said first means, whereby said pole re-enters the drying chamber in said position, said second means comprising a plurality of cams positioned in advance of the feed end of the machine and disposed at progressively greater distances from the path of the end of movement of a pole approaching said feed end, with the farthest of said cams farthest from, and with the nearest of said cams nearest to, said feed end, and a plurality of pins of diiferent lengths carried by, and spaced circumferentially on, the end of said approaching pole whereby the longer pins engage the farther, and the shorter pins engage the nearer cams as said pole approaches said feed end to rotate said pole about its axis in a direction and to an extent to restore said pole to said position.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 and a hinged member disposed in the path of movement of said pole in advance of the farthest of said cams and engageable with a pin on said pole, and means yieldably resisting the movement of said member in response to its engagement with said pin.

3. The structure recited in claim 2 and a guide for engaging at least two of said pins for keeping said pole in the position which it assumes after the end of said pole has cleared all of said cams.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Galson Feb. 5, 1935 

1. THE COMBINATION WITH A DRYING MACHINE OF THE TYPE WHICH INCLUDES A DRYING CHAMBER HAVING A FEED END AND A DELIVERY END, AN ENDLESS CONVEYOR IN SAID DRYING CHAMBER, POLES ROTATABLE ABOUT THEIR RESPECTIVE AXES AND CARRIED BY SAID CONVEYOR, MEANS PROPELLING SAID CONVEYOR ENDLESSLY IN ONE DIRECTION TO MOVE SAID POLES THROUGH SAID DRYING CHAMBER, AND A FIRST MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID POLES ABOUT THEIR RESPECTIVE AXES AS THEY TRAVEL THROUGH AT LEAST A PORTION OF SAID DRYING CHAMBER ANGULARLY TO DISPLACE EACH OF SAID POLES FROM THE POSITION IN WHICH SAID POLE ENTERED THE DRYING CHAMBER, OF A SECOND MEANS FOR ROTATING EACH OF SAID POLES ABOUT ITS AXIS IN A DIRECTION AND TO AN EXTENT TO NULLIFY THE ANGULAR DISPLACEMENT IMPARTED TO SAID POLE BY SAID FIRST MEANS, WHEREBY SAID POLE RE-ENTERS THE DRYING CHAMBER IN SAID POSITION, SAID SECOND MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CAMS POSITIONED IN ADVANCE OF THE FEED END OF THE MACHINE AND DISPOSED AT PROGRESSIVELY GREATER DISTANCES FROM THE PATH OF THE END OF MOVEMENT OF A POLE APPROACHING SAID FEED END, WITH THE FARTHEST OF SAID CAMS FARTHEST FROM, AND WITH THE NEAREST OF SAID CAMS NEAREST TO, SAID FEED END, AND A PLURALITY OF PINS OF DIFFERENT LENGTHS CARRIED BY, AND SPACED CIRCUMFERENTIALLY ON, THE END OF SAID APPROACHING POLE WHEREBY THE LONGER PINS ENGAGE THE FARTHER, AND THE SHORTER PINS ENGAGE THE NEARER CAMS AS SAID POLE APPROACHES SAID FEED END TO ROTATE SAID POLE ABOUT ITS AXIS IN A DIRECTION AND TO AN EXTENT TO RESTORE SAID POLE TO SAID POSITION. 